Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A Paen to the Kindle and Calibre

The kindle really revitalized my reading habits. I love to read late at night, with the lights out, on my laptop. Said laptop is usually tilted at a 45 degree angle on its side so I can curl up around it, and read with my head lying down.

It is as uncomfortable as it sounds.

When I got the kindle, I initially used it much less than anticipated. One can't use it without an external light source, so reading at night/in the car after dark was impossible at first.
Also, I read pretty fast. By the time I found an ebook, used Amazon to convert it to a kindle format, and then transferred it (the process took me a couple of days to do), I was usually done with the book in question.
I really only started using it when it gradually dawned on my mind to load all the books I had intentions of reading, but just never got to the head of my to-read list. (There is always some book I am so excited about that it supercedes my should-read books.
My use of the kindle really took off when I found this little application - 
Calibre 
An ebook organizer, viewer etc, its main strength lies in its ability to convert any format to any other format - so a html/pdf to a kindle format, for e.g.
how perfect is that?

It even works with the iphone (using an app - Stanza), and on  both Macbooks or Windows-based machines.


This software is highly recommended for anyone who reads on a laptop, and especially for anyone that reads via an ebook reader.
And its FREE!
What are you waiting for?




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8 comments:

  1. Hi Deepali. I use my Kindle with a headlamp strapped to the cover shining on to the screen when my husband is a sleep and I am not. I also now use the kindle function on my Ipad which I like better than the kindle itself. I synch the two so I can take my Kindle to the gym. The Ipad is too expensive to take to the gym. I appreciate the information on caibre though as a lot of E ARCs cost money to get thru a kindle email.

    But I love my Kindle and have it downloaded on all my computers. My husband and I share our account and can share books. Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust
    steph@fangswandsandfairydust.com

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  2. I can imagine that e-readers have made your reading experience a lot more comfortable than reading on your laptop now!
    I have never tried a Kindle or another e-reader but I'm not sure that I would like reading on one, I prefer the paper feel of a book. But maybe I'll try one out in the future :)

    Stephanie @ www.bestfriends-books.blogspot.com

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  3. I'm sort of looking for an e-reader and a bit torn on what I want. I thought some of the e-readers had a light feature? Maybe I'm crazy.. or maybe it's a different version of the one you have. Anyways, I'm not sure what I'll get yet - I know people who have the Nook and the Kindle and give both rave reviews. Thanks for sharing about the great ebook organizer and viewer!

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  4. I never considered using the laptop to read in bed, as aside from being as uncomfortable as you described, I don't like reading books on my laptop. But thanks for the funny visual! *L*

    Don't have a Kindle, but I did just buy a nook and I love it! So much easier to read on an eReader than a laptop! And while the screen isn't backlit, they do sell booklights made specifically for eReaders, so I may buy one of those as well.

    Happy eReading! :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am soooo close to buying an e-reader. Just have to pick which one I want! :)
    Never thought of taking my laptop to bed with me - hehe

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  6. AH! This is perfect for me. I havent wanted to dole out the money for an ereader so I read on my laptop when it's an ebook. The problem with that is exactly the ones u mentioned, as well as not wanting to even think about transfer issues. Definitely gonna look into this software.

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  7. @Steph-Love how you use your kindle, really liked your site!
    @Stephanie - Congrats on getting to 100+ followers!

    @Kristen - Well, both the Nook and the Kindle don't have backlit displays. The alternative is the way more expensive iPad or the Sony eReader, both of which have touchscreens.

    @Emily - You know, the Kindle is now at $139, which is such a great deal (and you might not miss the lack of EDGE network)
    Oh, and my laptop goes EVERYWHERE - no kidding.

    @Bello - I do understand your issue, I still tend to read quite a bit from my macbook.

    @Alexia- I do so agree! :)

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  8. I haven't used Calibre yet. I have used Adobe Digital Editions, though. I have a Kobo, and I've been using ADE because the actual Kobo software wreaks havoc on the books' formatting (how silly, eh?).

    One of the reasons I never bothered with the Kindle was because of the proprietary format. I didn't realize until recently that you could read other formats on the Kindle after converting them. Still, it seems like a bunch of extra steps, especially when other readers don't require you to convert anything. (Plus, I'm in Canada, so half the Kindle books I wanted weren't available to me.)

    I've heard Calibre is a great piece of software. I just haven't needed to use it.

    ReplyDelete

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